Friends Like These
by Marmite Jones
Summary: A story of friendship. Conversations and progression of two men, both extraordinary, helping each other through very ordinary problems in life. Clark and Bruce friendship with hints of Clark/Lois and Bruce/Diana
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys, first things first, this was a drunk idea and this first chapter was written while drunk. It's Batman/Superman bro-mance bro-time. The chapters will consist of Bats and Supes chatting and having a lot of back and forth, with some Clark and Lois and some Bruce and Diana in there too. Because OTP guys.**

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The training room was on lock down. Ever since the encounter with Darkseid and Clark letting loose on him, Bruce had demanded that Clark learn control. Bruce was adamant that control, mental stamina and sheer will-power would have allowed Clark to power through the agony matrix. Clark had seen Bruce do the same in several situations where his human body should have given out on him, he was willing to take the other mans advice.

Things had been quiet lately, especially with Luthor gone. However they were expecting a rise in crime rates and a power vacuum left by Lex. Clark had a blue ring on his finger. It stripped him of his powers, hence the training room lock down. Outside of this room, no one knew it existed and it stayed in a secure vault in the batcave, the only place Clark knew was fully secure. People had discovered the fortress in the part, but never the cave. He trusted Bruce to keep his secret.

Bruce knew something was bothering the man of steel, they had so far been through 8 weeks of training, Clark had picked up basic martial arts and physical fighting techniques easily with the help of Wildcat, the logical choice of fighting style for Clark was that of someone who a depowered Clark shared strength, stamina and build with.

Clark had taken to trained combat far better than Bruce had expected, so they moved on to mental control. They would sit and meditate. Clark needed Bruce's expertise in the technique to keep his mind from wandering. Helping him control himself and sort through his inner conflicts. One of which Bruce chose to bring up.

"Kent, somethings bothering you and its upsetting your meditation." Bruce invited the conversation, knowing that after previous weeks, Clark would feel compelled to share, one of his former masters had taught him that sharing inner conflicts with someone you trusted and could offer sound advice often helped with problems, Alfred was his confident. Bruce would be Clarks if necessary.

"I...I'm struggling with Lois." Clark opened his eyes, his arms slumped into his crossed legs along with his shoulders, his head looking slightly down and to his left, avoid eye contact with Batman. "It's so strange Bruce, since I told her about my identity, she can't seem to choose who she wants. One minute I'm Clark and she calls me Smallville and loves the farm boy in me, the next I'm Kal El, alien and last of a extinct species, then I'm Superman, her childish crush and hero of earth." He looked up. Bruce was as usual stoic, Clark almost wanted a physical reaction, a sympathetic sigh or shrug, but he knew better. Bruce would give him a logical answer and it would help him through. The other leaguers depended on Batman's superior intellect and tactical prowess, however Clark depended upon Bruce Wayne for times like these, the man who could naturally read people and solve social issues like these.

"That's because you're still not sure which of those you are." His voice was sincere, cutting home to the truth instantly. The factual statement of Clark's mindset was upsetting but he let Bruce continue. "To me, you're birth world is a legacy you carry out of respect and admiration. Superman is what you choose to be for the greater good, he is a mixing of Kal El and Clark. However at your heart, when your powers are gone or you feel helpless, you fall back on the Kent upbringing. Thats who you are. Clark Kent. You try harder with your journalism and expose's on subjects most people ignore than you have ever tried with sharing your Kryptonian heritage. Blood is blood, yet your mindset is nearly all human."

Clark was a little taken back, it was true, yet it wasn't. No one really ever asked about his Kryptonian heritage except Bruce. It was hard to account for why they hadn't and the thought suddenly sombered him. Did no one care about the dead planet which was originally his home? "Kent. You are a man out of his world, yet thoroughly apart of this one. Had you grown up on Krypton you would have had no powers, yet I still believe you would've been a hero there as well." This eased Clark slightly, Bruce had a point, he would still have helped people, any way he could, that was just who he was. The next words from Bruce's mouth helped Clark more than he would ever know.

"I consider Clark Kent my best friend, ally and brother. Lois fell in love with Clark before she knew he was Superman, before she knew Superman was Kal El and she will never love them like she loves Clark." Clark couldn't help but smile, he'd always known this at heart. His reply to Bruce was honest as always, and the smile that Bruce gave him back was a sign that his friend would never give up on him. "I guess, I always knew that Bruce, I just struggled with the guilt. Clark is me, thats who I am, but I felt guilt for feeling like being Clark at my core was ignoring the other parts of me. I'm Kal El, sure, but he's someone that never really got to live out his own life. Clark Kent is a living, breathing man. Even with all my extra's. I guess it really is nurture over nature huh?" He grinned at Bruce, feeling the weight lift from his shoulders. Bruce's smile faded and turned to a scowl. "Yes, yes it is."

Clark regretted his last words, that phrase for Bruce held a darker, more broken meaning. The death of his parents had forced the nuturing to cease and forced the birth of Batman, a knight of darkness. "Sorry Bruce." A moment or two passed, Batman merely nodding at Clarks apology. The friendship they had was uncommon, Batman normally ignored all the other metahumans, or had a snappy remark ready for them, but he knew with Superman it wasn't necessary, except for some situations.

"Hows things with Diana? Have you talked to her yet?"

"You're poor at meditation Kent."

"Back to last names, I'll get it out of you eventually Wayne."

With that, they resumed meditation, however Bruce had a nagging knot in his stomach that he wasn't getting out of this conversation.


	2. Arguing Pilots

A/N; The reviews and stuff for the first chapter were brilliant, thank you guys so much. You have no idea how much it means. This chapter again was written while slightly tipsy and it feels weaker than the first, but I'm building up. I may incorporate some purely CK/LL or BMWW later on, with Bats and Supes bits within the same chapters later, if that sounds good to anyone? I love you guys.

Two weeks after the meditation session;

It was the first mission in a while Clark and Bruce had been on alone, and together, they had come up against Giganta and Scarecrow, it had taken less than five minutes to difuse the situation and the javelin flight back to the watchtower was comfortably quiet for Bruce, but apparently, not for Clark.

"Diana's worried about you." Clarks tone was obviously testing the waters, it was coming up on the five year anniversary of Jason Todd's death. Clark always felt concerned for Bruce during this time of year, but tonight was different, he played the Diana card to get Batman to open up, it worked, somewhat.

"She has no need to worry. I'm fine." Bruce was aware of his tactic, he wasn't annoyed or offended. If he had been Kent, he would have applied a much more brutal tactic to open him up.

"Well maybe she should hear that from you. She's constantly asking about you, even if it is in subtle remarks and gestures." Clark was appealing to Bruce, rather Batman. Bruce would reply quickly and tactfully, he just hoped he could get him to reply without bringing the Bat into it.

"Clark you know its not that simple betwe-" Bruce didn't get to finish, Clark had taken enough crap from Bruce about women and he was tired of hearing his excuse for not acknowleding the feelings between the two of them. "No Bruce, it is that simple. You've dated several, far more weak and emotionally challenged women other than Diana. She dated Steve, it didn't work. Mainly because she can't help but have feelings for you. Simple as that."

Bruce grunted, sighed and pulled back his cowl. Watching as Superman's eyes narrowed, his fingers hitting the autopilot for the 15 minute journey to watchtower, he then swivelled the chair to face Bruce, ruffling his hair slightly. They were back to Bruce and Clark, not Batman and Superman, an equal playing ground for both.

"Clark, she's nothing like my world. She's like you. A beacon of hope and light, something this world should aspire too. I'm the darkness, the force the world needs to forget and fear, push itself out of." Clark was quick to respond, Bruce's argument were all based on the Batman, not Bruce Wayne. "Bruce, Batman is a force of good and light just as we are, you can't deny that." His shoulders slumped and his eyes lost a little light, dancing to the side and back to Bruce as he tried to find the words. "I can't describe it. I can't, but something between you and Diana is special. She admires you're prowess as a warrior, true, but she's mad for the person under that. Why do you think she enquires about your foundations? About your inventions? She asks because those are what Bruce Wayne cares about, not Batman. You're fighting against something that has no downside."

Bruce would've walked away, if he had anywhere to go. He'd taught Clark stragety well, he had him confined and forced to answer his questions. "I'm damaged goods Clark. I always was. I'll drag her down, I'll show her a side to this world she already hates." His voice remained strong, turning his gaze and chair to the window of the javelin as Clark prepared his response.

"She already knows. About you, about everything. She researched Bruce Wayne the moment she discovered who you really were." Bruce cringed, not in a way anyone but Clark would notice. He had the slightest twitch in his right arm muscle when something bothered him. Clark could only see it when he looked for it. A task only accomplished by his incredible eyesight. "When Jason died I had to convince her to stay on the Watchtower, that her presence near you would make you yell, turn your rage on her. She felt only guilt that she hadn't been there to help you Bruce. She doesn't want anything from you, anything at all. Yet you throw it away, sometimes, I think your loneliness is what you deem necessary for your mission. But right now, I think you hold onto it out of fear. Fear that she'll sneak behind your walls and start to help you." Bruce was getting angry, and Clark needed that, the only time he was ever truthful was when the anger rose in him.

Clark no idea how angry Bruce really was. His blood was boiling at the thought of Diana knowing his past, his motivations and his trauma with Jason. He stood up in from his seat, his cape and cowl falling off him and onto his chair now. "She's already behind that wall Clark. I'm in love with her, I have been for years. She knows what to say, how to react, it drives me insane. I can't even move my eyes without her knowing, lenses or not. I love her, and it's killing me." With that, the angry Batman sat down, the talking of Jason and Diana combined had dragged it all out of him.

"I won't let anything happen to her Bruce, neither would you."

"She's strong enough to not need our help."

"I know."

The following few minutes of silence felt like hours as they docked within the javelin bay, Bruce pulled his cowl back on and Superman fixed his hair. They replaced their masks and made a few paces to the docking bay doors. Batman didn't move, except for his lips, the faintest whisper on his breath that only Clark would hear.

"Thank you."

"It's what friends are for."

With that, the two left the Javelin, Bruce with some serious things to consider and Clark feeling awkwardly proud that he had used his best friends worst nightnames to bring to light the thing he was missing that could be his greatest strength. What Bruce would do without a friend like Clark, he did not know, but he'd get the Kryptonian back in the the training room later.


	3. Sleepover

A/N: Painfully short, for that, my apologies. This whole chapter was just an excuse for Alfred's closing line. As usual, I do not own Batman/Superman or anything of that ilk and this is all for fun. Peace out

Clark didn't see Bruce for two more weeks, two very busy weeks. Gotham was under heavy fire from its criminal underbelly, one of its more regular attempts to bring down the bat, and as usual, Bruce would not accept any help in dealing with the problem. It did not mean however, he wouldn't check up on him.

He'd kill him, he'd literally kill him. After he recovered from the broken ribs and concussion. Batman had been on the trail of a double homicide for three weeks, all the markers pointed to the same tactic's as an early Joker killing, however both bodies had broken spines, something that did not sit with him very well. It was a message, it would be pointless and time consuming to kill by breaking the backs of both victims, that much was obvious but after a brief examination he found that they had been broken post mortem, worrying indeed.

When the strings finally wove together he came face to face with Bane and Joker, apparently the two had 'ditched the other idiots' from around Gotham and decided to mix Bane's physical prowess with Joker's madness for an ultimate coup on the Batman's reign of terror. It may have worked on any other Hero, but not on Batman.

He had the Joker tied to a bridge support strut with a expertly thrown bolo and was currently making his way through the wreckage of a burnt out car to sneak up on Bane when he'd been distracted by the fact Joker was grinning right at him, which was impossible being that he was hidden perfectly, as usual. Bane had turned and with one front kick, pummelled the car and the Bat against the wall. The fight ended there.

Superman's speed was impossible for any normal criminal, insane or not, to keep up. Bane, on venom, had the enhanced sense that allowed him, humiliatingly, to watch in slow motion as a large red and blue blur completed an expertly trained roundhouse to send him careering off into a wall. If Bane wasn't an egotist, he would've noticed that his was outdone by a Batman trained roundhouse, but he was, and put it down to luck just before losing consciousness.

"Batman?!" Hands groped at the steel frame of the derelict car like it was tissue paper, a grunting Bruce underneath it. "I didn't need that." Clark wasn't going to argue, Bruce would accept later that he had gotten lucky tonight, with Superman's assistance he had survived, end of story. "Joker..Bane.." Clark nodded, tapping his Justice League commlink and informing J'onn of his location, Black Canary beaming down to take care of it. With that, He placed a arm around Batman and lifted him into the air, bee-lining for the mansion.

The next couple of minutes were a blur, Alfred had Clark help him remove the Kevlar armour, then the cowl. He treated his master and then used the emergency lift to take Bruce up to his bedroom. Clark awaiting Alfred in one of the many lounge rooms. The sound of creaking wood leading him to turn. "He'll be fine." Alfred always seemed to know the question before it was asked, leaving the great Superman with a lopsided smile, breaking into a yawn and being interrupted by Alfred.

"Master Kent, I must insist that you stay the night in one of the spare bedrooms, we can't have earth's heroes being exhausted now can we?" Alfred, as loathe as Clark was to admit it, was right. He hadn't slept in a fortnight (which with adequate sunshine, was his limit.) and it was catching up with him.

"I doubt that Bruce would enthralled to wake up with me still here Alfred." Most people would have assumed that Bruce would be out for maybe a day or two, but both men knew better, Bruce would be mooching around the house well before either man awoke. Either way, Alfred gave Clark the 'look' he'd seen used on Bruce so many times and it very well nearly hit him like Kryptonite, with a sigh and a stammer he retracted his previous statement. "If-If you insist then Alfred." With that, the hulking mass of red and blue was led up to one of the spare rooms and within the minute, was fast asleep, leaving the old butler alone in the house.

"I daresay that this would be your first ever sleepover with a best friend Master Bruce, if not a little overdue." Alfred smirked, adjusted his bowtie and then made his way to his own room, a noticeable bounce in the older mans step.


End file.
